First of all...we actually have sun! We have had two sunny days in a row. AHHH, what a relief it is!
Now on to our guests. We were privileged to host our friends the D's for a week. They are from NC and the church where he pastors supports us. They were such good company, coming at a busy and emotionally challenging time for us with our leaving Vlasim church. Thank you for coming the D's! Nathanael still talks about their visit and the books he read.
She also taught Rachel how to crochet. You can see that Rachel took off and is still crocheting... The time at Klub was different than we thought it would be as the kids weren't talking with each other and wouldn't come to Klub together...we only had two moms and two little toddlers. Thanks for flexing with us! Your singing and puppet show was great. Especially cute was T's interaction with Paja (the puppet).
We do treasure visits from friends. Our home is open! Speaking of which....two of my sisters and their daughters who are Amy's age are coming (one is flying as I write) for our long planned and much looked-forward to trip to Paris! More to come...
As you know, we go once a week to Vlasim to help with Klub Rachel, the non-government agency we work with in order to reach Roma.
Thanks to Kenosha Bible Church, we obtain crafts to make and parties in a box. This years Valentine's Day party was a big hit. There were less kids than usual due to the cold and sickness of many.
We are enjoying the visit of friends/supporters from North Carolina. We haven't seen them in a long time and are enjoying the extended times of visiting with them. They are being kept busy. Tomorrow they are going to Klub with us in the evening.
Nathanael thinks they are at his beck and call. Whenever they have a moment and happen to be sitting relaxing, he appears with a book or some other request for their attention. I don't know what we will do without them playing and entertaining!
We are busy, tired and sensing that God is working in our lives. Pray that we would continue to seek Him first and His righteousness.
Yes, I know it is normal to have to say "goodbye" in life. Especially MY life. Doesn't make me enjoy them more, just makes me realize the importance of saying them well.
Last Sunday was our last official Sunday in Vlasim at the church we helped plant and worked in for 5 and a half years. Seems short and long at the same time. There have been many really hard times as well as times when it has been really good. Like life.
There was a chance for us to speak (Tom and I). I prayed for a quite a bit about what God would have me say to the people that make up the church. I ended up being led to share Zephaniah 3:17 " The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
Then, in addition to this picture of how God feels about us, His Church, I was lead to share that they need to be in the Word for themselves. They, as children of God, have the Holy Spirit to guide them and they don't need to follow one person or seek truth elsewhere. I pray that for the church as a whole.
There was food, which was good, I assume as the kids said so. Tom and I had meaningful conversations with people in the church and felt affirmed many times throughout those conversations.
So, even as we said, goodbye, we said hello. To what? Well, to more travel for Tom, a different ministry in the sense that we won't be church planting now. We are working with Roma at Klub Rachel, as well as encouraging work in Hungary, Slovakia and other parts of Czech among the Roma.
This involves connecting those with RG currently working with or interested in working with refugees anywhere along the lines of their journey be it at the beginning as they escape their country or at the end where they need help settling in to their new country.
We are in the process of visiting churches in Prague where we may attend. This promises to take a while as we intend to visit many times before deciding. Pray that we would hear God's voice as we visit.
We are looking forward to many visits this spring, which also means many goodbyes. Pray that we would do this well and enjoy the hello's also! By they way, you are welcome here too!
